Out of Sight, Out of Mind
by CultOfStrawberry
Summary: Bree Van de Kamp Hodge dwells upon that certain phrase and what it has meant in her life. (written during Season 6)


**Out of Sight, Out of Mind**

This is my first Desperate Housewives fanfic, though really it's more of a drabble/oneshot. I might do a oneshot for the other wives if the mood strikes me, but I noticed something in Bree's character that practically demanded that I explore it. So here we go. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think!

o0o0o

With her mother gone, all Bree Mason could see was the blood on the street. Everyone else was gone at the hospital,, and she felt lonely. She would never see her mother again, and the stain she saw every time she looked at the street, she was reminded of what had happened. She couldn't bear the sight of this... evidence of her mother's demise. So she cleaned it. And felt much better.

After all, out of sight, out of mind. It was the first time she truly understood that phrase.

o0o0o

Bree Van de Kamp would not acknowledge the fact that her husband had been unfaithful. She had done everything for him. She had sacrificed the possibility of an career so she could take care of Rex and the children. She was the perfect housewife. Her house was clean, her family immaculately dressed, her meals fabulous, her appearance refined. Messes were never welcome in her life, and she attacked each and every one of them with the fanaticism that Rex and her children had come to despise.

But it was what kept her together. If she couldn't present the image of the perfect woman, then what did she have? So even as her marriage deteriorated further, she clung to the glossy veneer that she had erected over all these years.

Out of sight, out of mind.

o0o0o

Bree looked in the rearview mirror as her son stood there at the old gas station, his bag now his sole possession in the world. She had done what she could, and she hated the fact that she couldn't fix or clean this as she could so many other things. She couldn't bear Andrew's snide comments or his defiance of her efforts to create a ideal image of their family. He refused to appreciate her efforts to hold the family together, so she would be rid of him.

Out of sight, out of mind.

o0o0o

Her stomach swelled with her 'pregnancy', Bree Hodge smiled graciously at her guests and friends, the perfect image of a refined woman. Danielle was safely tucked away, hidden from prying eyes to deal with the consequences of her actions. Bree would have a child to raise, a child she could rear properly. Orson loved her, and she knew he would be a good parent. Despite her past, she could start anew. She maintained her poise, showing off her 'pregnant' belly proudly, her daughter's mistake nearly forgotten.

Out of sight, out of mind.

o0o0o

As much as she tried to deny it, she could not stand Orson anymore. He was no longer the husband she loved. And his faults were harder to hide than Rex's. Everyone knew he had been in prison, so he couldn't get a job and be the man she wanted him to be. And there was the stealing.

As she fought harder to maintain the glossy image of her marriage and household, she found herself doing things she never thought possible. Karl Mayer was what Orson was not. With him, she could discard her urge to be perfect. Even as her marriage to Orson continued to decline, she found it ironic that he too, clung to the idea of presenting a positive image to everybody they knew. So she smiled with him, continuing the charade of a happy and peaceful marriage.

Out of sight, out of mind.

o0o0o

But there was one thing that Bree had learned after all these years.

As often as she told herself that image was everything, that if she was diligent in maintaining that, the illusion would become reality. The mistakes she had made, and the mistakes of others that she covered up remained there, deeply ensconced in her memory. She now knew all too well, after so many years of smiling and maintaining her facade, that this much was the absolute truth...

Out of sight does _not_ mean out of mind.


End file.
